straight talk. look at the last election. >> latino vote is expected. >> we are losing dramatically the hispanic vote. >> finally in this country we have an immigration law we can live with. >> i think the time is right. >> we have to stop being the stupid party. >> i strongly favor english being the official language of government. >> i would build a fence on every inch of the southern border. >> if you say that we should not educate children, i don't think you have a heart. >> well, i support the arizona law. >> what you need to do is attack their benefits. >> it would have electrified barbed wire at the top. >> we need to end the practice of anchor babies in the united states. >> and yes, mr. president, it would have alligators in it. >> we are losing! >> we are losing. we begin with all eyes on

the border, and what could be the first big legislative action and fight of 2013. just a week after the president's second term inauguration, a consensus over immigration has developed at an unusual speed. the president is due to roll out his own immigration overhaul tuesday in las vegas, but this afternoon a bipartisan group of senators unveiled the framework for a major reform bill, including a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants. >> we still have a long way to go, but this bipartisan blueprint is a major break through. >> we cannot continue as a nation with 11 million people residing in the shadows. and we have to address the issue. and it has to be done in a bipartisan fashion. >> notably, this appears to be the very first time senator john mccain has signed onto one of the president's legislative priorities, and you may be surprised to learn that republicans have made this sudden shift from previous

immigration proposals such as herman cain's electrified fence and mitt romney's stance of self-deportation. after all, it wasn't even a year ago that congressman steve king of iowa compared america's immigrant selection process to that of picking out a dog. >> pick the one that's the friskiest, the one that's engaged the most, and not the one that's over there sleeping in the corner. you get the pick of the litter, and yourself a pretty good bird dog. we got the pick of every darn civilization on the planet. >> right, pick work dogs, not lazy dogs from those donor countries. congressman king said later his remarks were meant as a compliment. charming. so there has been an evolution by the republican party and it's not because rick perry accused anyone of not having a heart. senator mccain, how about some of that famous straight talk? >> i'll give you a little straight talk. look at the last election. look at the last election. we are losing dramatically the

hispanic vote, which we think should be ours for a variety of reasons. >> now, losing dramatically. i'm not so sure about that. mitt romney only lost by 44 points among latino voters, a hair's breath really. if republicans think the latino vote should be theirs, they may want to revisit their hardline party platform which reads in part, we oppose any form of amnesty for those who, by intentionally violating the law, disadvantaged those who have obeyed it, granting amnesty only rewards and encourageags more l breaking. there is no indication that the republican base is on board with any of this. as daniel horowitz rights at red state.com, any so-called comprehensive immigration reform proposal that is worth more than a bucket of spit must ensure the following. we are not saddled with 12 million new consumers of the welfare state, we don't have 12

million new democrat voters. it appears this border battle may be just beginning. let's get to our panel now. in los angeles is democratic strategist professor bob shrum. here in new york is nbc latino contributor victoria defrancesco soto. given how so many republicans have insulted and demeaned immigrants for such a long time, do you believe that their sudden willingness to move forward is something more than just a pragmatic realization that unless they reach out, then their pros tekts of winning the white house will remain bleak? >> well, i think it's entirely pragmatic. look, some elections, the winner can claim a mandate. the 2012 election, the republicans got a message. at least the semi sane wing of the republican party. i'm not sure, actually, that this will solve their whole problem even if something reasonable passes. the rhetoric that has come from republicans from 2007 on all the

way through 2012 could have the same kind of permanently alienating impact the republicans had with african-americans in the '60s and '70s and there is the wing of the republican party, they're going to resist any forward movement here. that rhetoric is going to get even more rancid and then john boehner is going to have to decide whether he's going to allow a vote on a bill like this on the floor of the house even if a majority of his caucus is against it. the tea party core of the republican party is not buying this. >> victoria, to professor shrum's point, steve king of iowa tweeted even before the press conference had fn finished, some senators and representatives will soon announce how they plan to pardon law breakers and reward them with the objective of their crime. jo and just a couple weeks ago, steve king reintroduced his legislation to amend the 14th amendment to keep out what he calls anchor babies. there are definitely the steve

kings in the world, but what we see is a growing coalition in the republican party. business has always been supportive of immigration but we also see that the evangelical wing of the republican party coming to the support of immigration. we know that latinos are the fastest growing segment of the evangelical movement, and most recently we're adding on police enforcement, what we call the badges, folks who are over burdened in their communities at patrolling immigration and they're saying we're sick of this. federal government, do your job. so, yes, you're always going to have the steve kings, the minute men, but what are they going to do, vote democrat snik. >> the senate plan would appear to make citizenship moves contingent on a review of border security and that has many people worried. take a listen to what congressman castro of texas told chuck todd earlier. >> we have to make sure that those measurements when we've determined that we've secured the border, that those measurements are objective. otherwise what you will have a fights down the road where folks are saying, well, wait a minute,

let's not move on to the second phase of the bill because we have not first completed the first phase. >> professor shrum, when you have a governor like jan brewer and a sheriff like joe arpaio, what hope is there of them ever coming back and confirming that the border is secure? >> the details really matter here, and there is this commission of people from states along the border, and i certainly wouldn't turn over to jan brewer or even rick perry the determination as to whether or not the borders were secure. the congressman is exactly right. >> professor, it's going to be a commissioner of governors and law enforcement. that would appear both those individuals caqualify for a rol. >> but that has to be advisory. and i think people will have to make that fight because otherwise the commission will never certify the borders are secure. you need specific benchmark that is tell you specific actions have been taken. and what should count is not the results, but what are the specific steps we took? are they in place, and can we now move forward with a path to

citizenship? otherwise this isn't going to mean anything. >> absolutely. victoria, president obama will outline his approach as we said tomorrow. he's going to las vegas. but senator marco rubio writes in an op-ed today, i'm quoting him, my hope is president obama will use his voice and influence to further this approach. however, if what he offers is a process for the undocumented that is more lenient, faster, and unfair to those waiting to come legally, it won't bode well for reform. that suggests there's a fight brewing already, doesn't it? >> it does, but i think it's more smoke than fire. the biggest difference that we were expecting to see between the senate proposal and the presidential proposal was a pathway to citizenship, and i was pleasantly surprised this morning when i saw that the senate proposal said that citizenship was an option. i don't think there's going to be a lot of fight in terms of the details. both republicans and democrats have come to the realization that we do have to be fair to those immigrants who have been here waiting in line. they may quibble about the

details of the fine being $2,000 or $1,500, but ultimately the objective is the same of a fairness to it. >> professor shrum, final question to you. there's this suggestion that individuals who seek citizenship and the pathway to citizenship will be required to pay a small fine of some kind and back taxes. is that likely to prove a disincentive to people who after all are not usually making a lot of money and may find that a burden that they just can't carry out because they don't have the wealth to pay it? >> not ultimately, and i think it's part of a compromise that works. it was in the kennedy/mccain bill that president bush was willing to support back in 2007. and i think victoria is absolutely right. we're going to probably get a bill here. it's going to be a pretty reasonable bill assuming boehner will cooperate. but then the next question is going to become for republicans are they going to try to disenfranchise the people that they've just allowed to become citizens? because they're not going to solve their problem with hispanics and minorities simply

by doing immigration reform. they have to have a kind of transformational change in the way they look at a changing america which is becoming a majority nonwhite nation. >> indeed. well, senator chuck schumer is optimistic about the proposals, and let's hope that he's right. professor bob shrum, victoria defrancesefran chess sowco -- s thank you. >> the president and republicans finally agree the media is biased, but president obama says its fox news that's the problem. really? really? [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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why anybody in this room needs to have one of these assault-style weapons or military weapons. all right. >> please, please, no comments while mr. heslin is speaking or we'll clear the room. >> a father's grief interrupted by the cries of a heckler. that was the scene in hartford, connecticut, where the parents of children killed at sandy hook elementary testified boofer an audience that wasn't always friendly. neil heslin talked about the loss of his 6-year-old son jesse who was shot and killed while urging his classmates to run. in washington the president and vice president met at the white house with law enforcement officials from towns that have been scarred by gun violence. let's bring in steve kornacki,

my colleague here at msnbc, and democratic strategist julian epstein. i want to put this question to both of you if i can. steve, these gun lobbyists are fairly aggressive. they dragged the president's children into the debate with that scurrilous advert but heckling the father of a child who was lost? can you explain that to me? >> if you look at the outpouring of grief for these families, one thing that's separated the aftermath of newtown is this story has stayed in the news. it stayed in the news a lot longer than other shootings and it's kept gun control in the news a lot longer which has created this political opening. when you look at a moment like that, which obviously it's indefen indefensible for somebody to show up at a hearing and treat a man like that, but i think it adds to the momentum. it adds to the outrage and it adds to the case for action to be taken here. >> julian, you heard that

father. wayne lapierre of the nra will be going to the white house, sorry, to the senate judiciary committee this week. what do you think of the reaction of these lobbyists to a father whose child has been murdered? >> well, leaving aside the fact that the hecklers have no idea what they're talking about in the sense that the second amendment in no way restricts the outlawing of assault weapons, this has to be a new low in the debate. the idea that you would desecrate the memory of the victims of newtown and insult their families. this shows just i think how extreme and outrageous the nra and i assume the hecklers were nra moles, how they've become. you consider that in the context of the other absurd statements they have made about martin luther king and the civil rights movement going after the president's children. contrast that with what the president is doing which you mentioned in the setup piece, which is meeting with law enforcement, and if you take a look back at what happened in

1994, the principal strategy of those who wanted to pass the assault weapons ban was to get with law enforcement. if you were for common sense gun regulations you were for getting tough on crime. if you were against them, you were weak on crime. that got a number of votes from the republican party. the president clearly occupying the political center with law enforcement, parents, teachers, community leaders. the nra and some elements of the republican party associating themselves with people that would desecrate the memory of the victims in newtown, people that would then try to, as "the new york times" exposed yesterday, market assault weapons to 10-year-olds, i think the contrast becomes pretty clear and who occupies the political center is pretty clear. >> i guess when the gun lobby isn't shouting at the parents of dead children, they're busy trying to get kids to take up guns themselves. according to one horrifying piece, gun companies spent $21

million just in 2010 alone on recruiting more junior shooters as they're called, and that's twice as much as they spent in the five years before. what's going on? >> well, we have to think about -- this is a business, right? and this is a business that needs to create -- >> this is a big business, steve. >> it ties in with what the nra actually is. if you're a gun manufacturer, obviously you need to be thinking long term. decades and generationally. you need to be cultivating young consumers now. it's the association of firearm owners, but what it really represents is firearm manufacturers and those who sell firearms. there's this alliance that's building where let's try to create new customers for the future, and then let's defend our interest as business and let's couch this all in terms of we're here to defend the second amendment rights of everyday americans but that's not really what is going on. it's a business relationship. >> julian, i'm not sure what the

most disgusting detail in that "new york times" article was, but it may be this quote from andy fink who is the editor of junior shooters magazine. he says that semi-automatic firearms are not weapons. they're a tool not any different than a car or a baseball bat. now, julian, i have to put it to you. can you show me a baseball bat that can kill 20 people in a few seconds? >> we've made that point. there's nothing else out there that has the capacity to create these kind of massacres in a matter of seconds as does assault weapons. let me say also before going on on this, just remind your viewers, since newtown, there have been 1,300 gun related homicides. so the idea that this is not an epidemic in this country is just belied by all the statistics, and on assault weapons, as dianne feinstein pointed out, when we had an assault weapons ban in 1994, we saw assault

weapons crime go down 66%, 70%. steve is right, the reason we see the nra as marketing assault weapons to 10-year-olds is because shooting sports like hunting are on the decrease, and what the nra is fundamentally trying to do and what this is all about, everything that they do is about selling more guns. and the parallels to the tobacco industry become very clear. it was when we realized that the tobacco industry was trying to sell cigarettes and tobacco products to children when there was a national revulsion in this doesn't, and i think if you ask most parents, they will tell you that they think the answer to most of our children's problems does not lie in getting more cross fire in our schools or cross fires in our play grounds. so i think this is, again, one of the things that shows the extremism, the out of touch nature, the tone deafness of the nra and its supporters and it's one of the things -- one of the reasons we see the numbers, the polling numbers, moving so dramatically in favor of the

president's proposal. >> julian epstein and steve kornacki, gentlemen, thank you so much. coming up, the president calls out fox news. and they're off. stay with us. >> he's put this freeze on fox news for years. this idea that fox news is some sort of evil force in the media. he's gone after rush limbaugh. he's attempted to start secondary boycotts of rush limbaugh in conjunction with groups like media matters. this is what he does. he's a bully. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. if, as expected, senator john kerry is confirmed to replace hillary clinton as secretary of state this week, the continuing crisis in egypt is certain to be high upon his list of priorities. dozens have died and more than 500 have been injured during the last five days of anti-government protests. this latest outbreak of violence

occurred after a court sentenced 21 people to death for their part in soccer rioting last year. we are joined live from cairo. with a state of emergency now declared in several cities across egypt, president morsi has urged opposition leaders to engage what he describes as an open dialogue. why are they so opposed to doing that? >> reporter: well, right now they think that the president is not genuine in having serious negotiations about reform or addressing the larger grievances of the population that are represented by the minority of people who are protesting on the streets. they say the president wants to use negotiations to be able to turn to countries like the united states and europe and say to them, look, i am a president of all of egypt, i am meeting with the opposition. i'm trying to have good-faith negotiations, but when it comes to tangibly producing different results on the street, the

opposition says the president is simply not interested in true reforms or genuine plurality in the democratic scene. >> now, as senator john kerry prepares to take over at the state department, how does he approach president morsi? because according to his opponents, morsi is a dictator who is sponsored, as we know, by the muslim brotherhood. given the way president morsi is ruling, does that not suggest he's unlikely to listen to a u.s. secretary of state or, indeed, anyone else? >> well, you know, the muslim brotherhood and president morsi have made it absolutely clear, they want very good relations with washington. they have been striking a positive note. there's been a high level delegation of the muslim brotherhood that have visited and met with u.s. officials in washington, d.c., so the tone that comes out of cairo towards washington is they want the strategic partnership to continue. president morsi wants to be able to have that in his, you know, successes, diplomatic successes.

so there's no doubt he will listen to the u.s. he will listen also to european countries, but more importantly he has to address these issues here at home to be able to take those beyond egypt and to the international community. >> ayman, thank you so much. stay with us. the day's "top lines" are coming up. for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems,

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that's why there's new pam. from macho man biden and the republican renewal to 60 shades of gray. here are today's "top lines." >> you thought barack upset conservatives with his inaugural address? >> he's not looking to moderate. he's be looking to go farther to the left. >> wait until i take the mike and let the gop have it. macho man rodney savage style. >> we have to expand our appeal. >> what are you going to do with macho man joe biden? >> renew our party, grow our

ranks, and win elections. >> look at the last election. we are losing dramatically the hispanic vote, which we think should be ours. >> we can't get rattled. we won't play the villain in his morality plays. >> we can't go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in an illegal status. >> anti-government ideologues. >> sometimes we will have to reject the president's proposals. >> that if you do not believe in government then you will not vote for most things that come up, and they haven't. >> speaking of change, what's up with michelle's bangs? her bangs! what is she, a guest star on "new girl." >> i wanted to publicly stay thank you. she will go down as one of the finest secretary of states. >> she was gildy. >> a lot of love between the best friends forever. >> no political tea leaves? >> we haven't got some tea.

>> if he had a clinton presidency, i think we would have fixed this fiscal mess. >> it seems to be the pr organization for the obama administration. >> male models moonlighting as handymen. >> mike wallace is spinning in his grave. >> let's get to our panel now, angela rye is a political strategist. dr. james peterson is a contributor to thegrio.com and ryan grim, d.c. bureau chief for "the huffington post." welcome to all of you. i'm glad you're watching again ryan behind you on the screen. professor peteon, we saw a lot of the president this weekend, a lengthy interview given to the new republic and that interview with hillary clinton on "60 minutes." i see republicans grumbling about that interview. is that because it made democrats seem like mature, well-mannered, adults who are trying to get something done? >> yeah. for all of their critique about what they perceived as being a softball interview, have you

ever seen a republican politician on a fox news interview? certainly there's a double standard there in their mind. at the end of the day here, i think that the president and secretary clinton being in the same space at the same time is an important sort of sense for the democratic party going forward. one of the president's support of this secretary of state and what she's done in terms of all the travel and all the impact she's had internationally, but, two, it is looking forward a little bit, as much as we're loath to talk about 2016, it looks as if hillary clinton, a formidable candidate at that time. >> let me read something from the interview the president gave the new republic. he says at one point, one of the biggest factors is going to be how the media shapes debates. if a republican member of congress is not punished on fox news or by rush limbaugh for working with a democrat on a bill of common interest, then you'll see more of them doing it. now, the right is up in arms

about this quote today. he had to know, the president had to know that was going to be the reaction though presumably. would you agree? >> well, maybe he did know it was going to be the reaction but at the end of the day it's absolutely true. we have to get to a place in this country where people are applauded for doing what's right. what you're seeing right now from the president is a shift from the audacity of hope to the audacity of conscious politics, and i think that the rest of the country has got to shift, too. we have republicans all over the country who are fighting against common sense politics, common sense solutions, and we just cannot do that. we literally cannot afford to do that right now. >> but so many of these republicans appear to be frightened by rush limbaugh, by the nra, by fox news. isn't that true? >> it's absolutely true. but, again, we have to get to a point where we're not just accountable to rush limbaugh and fox news and all of the other pundit stations and, you know, the types of propaganda that

some of the people in the republican party put out. we have to get to the place where our elected officials are serving their constituencies in total, not just portions of the constituency. >> i pray that was the case. ryan, the president basically in the interview that he doesn't -- he says he doesn't see his relationship with republicans getting better until republicans' relationships with republicans get better. does that mean basically i guess don't hold your breath for the next four years? i don't want to be pessimistic, but that's how it feels, doesn't it, ryan? >> yeah. i mean, they have a lot of issues they need to work out, and they're going to work those out internally over the next two years, and i think obama is right, that until they get to a place where a republican can have a constructive relationship with obama and not pay a political price for it, then no republicans are going to have constructive relationships with them because, you know, politicians are just -- are very self-serving and self-interested

folks. that's how they got to where they are, and there has to be somebody who has to break the curse. there has to be a politician, a republican, who steps forward, works with obama on something, maybe it will be guns, maybe it will be immigration, we'll find out who works with him, who infuriates the base, infuriates rush limbaugh and glenn beck if he's still around out there, and survives and actually advances. as soon as that happens, then it shows an alternative path to power for republicans, and that will enable obama to then start having relationships again. >> he is still out there. i heard him this morning. professor peterson, let me play for you an exchange when david gregory and senator jim demint on this topic of the president's vision versus that of republicans. listen to this, professor peterson. >> that's something paul ryan said. he said last year the country will choose what happens in 2013. and they did. so aren't we past the point of

two different visions and choosing? >> i don't think the country has chosen that. >> so, professor peterson, the election went 51% to 47% with the president. 323 electoral college votes to 206. but according to jim demint, that didn't decide anything, right? >> well, this is the kind of logic of the republican party we've been wrestling with over the last several years. former senator demint is moving more into policy and lobbying and trying to influence the public discourse and that's probably a good place for him to live and breathe in. >> he ought to be attached to reality surely. >> well, as you know, and as we have chronicled on this show and others on this network, reality is not the basis by which those on the far right always sort of draw their conclusions and create their ideas. and so sadly, we can't expect that at this point in time. what i would say to all the republicans is if you don't want to put stock in the presidential election, you really need to rethink what your relationship is to the american body politic

overall. >> angela, you get the sense from this interview that the president is literally done waiting for compromise. he tried that for four years. we see that he's now turning his campaign apparatus into a machine to sell his policies. now, in your view do you think that will be more effective as an approach towards achieving substantive legislation as compared with the first four years. >> well, yes, i think that there's absolutely a place for the public to play in the president's steps moving forward. he cannot continue to try to operate and do things in a way and then try to communicate to the american public later. that didn't necessarily work as well as i think the white house and obama administration had hoped the first four years. so now they're going to what they do best. that's boots on the ground, that's messaging. they do it very well during campaigns and i think we're going to see a whole lot happening in these next four years or at least while the president has kind of the space to continue to make moves politically. i think that we'll also see the republicans pushing back by not

trying to win by communicating more with people of color or young people or even the elderly for that matter. instead, they're going to make moves like what they've done in the virginia state legislature, which is try to change the maps and how people's votes are counted. so we've got to keep moving forward in a way that says, you know, we, the people, to use the president's term from the inaugural address. >> ryan, the president said that the republicans have a fever, but if he won, that would break the fever, would it not? but paul ryan, well, he doesn't appear to have been affected at all. so maybe the fever hasn't broken for paul ryan and the republicans. >> no, they certainly still have a fever but i guess we couldn't have expected the fever to break immediately. i laughed when i heard the president say that back in june or whenever it was during the campaign, but, you know, maybe he's right. i mean, the fever can't go on forever. it has to break at some point. you know, either it breaks or their entire party breaks.

you can't continue being a party that ignores, you know, national election results as demint said that the party wants to do. you know, you can't go in and say, if we win, then we have a mandate, but if we lose then the other side doesn't have a mandate. you can only be divorced from reality for so many years. so, you know, whether it takes another midterm or another presidential election, at some point this fever has got to give or it's going to kill the patient. >> they're doing pretty well. it's almost three months. ryan grim, angela rye, and dr. james peterson, thank you so much. coming up, paul ryan, versus the president. the battle lines are drawn. stay with us. versus the president. the battle lines are drawn. stay with us. re going on vacati, so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot

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only part of the package. >> the only way that we're going to be able to do everything that needs to be done is with the cooperation of congress, and that means passing serious laws that restrict the access and availability of assault weapons and magazine clips. >> nbc news white house correspondent peter alexander joins us live from the white house. pete, those comments came just prior to a meeting with police chiefs from aurora, colorado, oak creek, wisconsin, and, of course, newtown, connecticut. all cities which lived through mass shootings last year. we know military officers like general mcchrystal do not believe assault weapons should be freely available to civ civilians. >> reporter: the president said at the beginning of the conversation with the individuals you mentioned and others who share their position,

he said the chiefs of police in cities across the country very well recognize that the problem of assault weapons and more specifically of gun violence extends beyond the mass shootings that took place in their communities. it happens on a daily basis in a lot of cities as well even if it doesn't get the headlines or the number of casualties is not as great, and in cities like that, it is those officers, the officers of the chiefs who were here today, who are often outarmed, outmanned as it were by the individuals they're going up against. >> right. nebraska senator chuck hagel has his confirmation hearing on thursday, i believe. "the new york times" reports that several secretly funded conservative groups are running ads against him. john kerry's hearing was fairly straightforward, as you know. what is the white house expecting with the chuck hagel nom nation hearing? >> reporter: the white house concedes not everything is going to be easy. they acknowledge this is the first confirmation hearing battle really to take place in

this sort of super pac era post-citizenships united which means several million dollars are already being spent by groups on both sides. a lot of this money provided by donors, millionaires and billionaires even who have ideological views that are vastly opposed to those of chuck hagel. the white house though is confident he's the right guy for the job and will best carry out the president's positions going forward. >> and a final question, pete, i understand and some republicans will probably be pleased about this, that a self-appointed monarch actually visited the white house today by the name of king james. is that correct? >> reporter: yeah, king james did make it. for a guy who has probably seen about as many cameras as the president given the fact he's as big a star in this world frankly as obama is in many circles, he was pretty much wowed, tongue-tied. at one point when he stood up alongside the president, he wasn't sure what to say. ultimately he said, mom, i made it. he handed the president a ball signed by his teammates.

they gave the president a number 44 jersey from the miami heat and it turns out as we saw on twitter he and dwyane wade and some of the teammates enjoyed a little tour around the white house earlier today. so this was a pretty unique experience for some guys who it's hard to imagine could be star struck themselves. >> absolutely. nbc news white house correspondent peter alexander. pete, thank you. next, paging dr. ryan. the would-be veep laments what might have been. stay with us. [ coughs ] [ angry gibberish ] i took something for my sinuses, but i still have this cough. [ male announcer ] a lot of sinus products don't treat cough. they don't? [ male announcer ] nope, but alka seltzer plus severe sinus does it treats your worst sinus symptoms, plus that annoying cough. [ breathes deeply ] ♪ oh, what a relief it is! [ angry gibberish ]

hurricane sandy smashed into the new jersey coastline on october the 29th. today, the 28th of january, the senate is finally expected to pass a $50 billion emergency aid bill to provide desperately needed relief. but we can only assume that this will upset paul ryan and the 179 house republicans who voted

against the bill. their reason? well, vague claims of unnecessary spending, the usual republican approach to most budget battles. but whatever you do, don't you dare call that austerity. >> we're not preaching austerity. we're preaching growth and opportunity. what we are saying is if you get our fiscal ship fixed, you preempt austerity. >> joining us now is congressman joe crawly of new york. welcome, sir. ryan's budget would not allow tax hikes, it would cut nonentitlement and discretionary spending by as much as 37%, okay? every single exist in the world says that if this country did that, it would be tipped straight back into recession. he says that's not austerity. >> well, i guess it's a new definition for austerity then. the reality is, martin, they have continued and continue to try to balance the books of america on the backs of the middle class and the poorest

amongst us. and they can change their rhetoric, but they have yet to change their policies. the rhetoric seems to change over and over. they want to work to better america but offer no new ideas. >> he's rewritten his takers and makers line and now he says he's not into austerity. >> he's preaching. >> is he lying to america? >> he's saying one thing and doing another. what's remarkable is he continues to espouse these beliefs with a nuance. he's on television. he ran for vice president. now he's a member of the house again so he's going back to his constituency or the house republican caucus where a lot of what he says is really not only accepted, they love. it's like giving meat to a lion. they love everything he says. >> even though his 2010 and 2011 budgets were so severe and brutal that they literally would have ruined the lives of the poor, the disabled, working

poor, and yet he says that actually he's not into austerity. he wants to grow the economy. he keeps saying this. >> he also doesn't want a culture of dependency. i think if you ask the average kindergarten child whether or not he or she should help his or her friend in any way, shape, or form, they get how we help each other. this one particular case of sandy, i thought americans helped each other during time of need. you ask a kindergartner, they know how to act. why can't members of congress do the same? >> that was incredible. let me play you another clip from his "meet the press" interview where he was asked what he learned from losing in 2012. listen to this. >> what do you think the party should learn from the loss? >> well, we obviously have to expand our appeal. we have to expand our appeal to more people and show how we'll take the country's founding principles and apply them to the problems of the day to offer solutions to fix our problems. >> that's just complete gibberi

gibberish, isn't it? what is he talking about? >> i don't know. i think what he's really trying to do is appeal to common sense americans, but, again, as i said before, it's rhetoric. it's not backed up by any policy changes whatsoever. >> congressman, the american people tossed him and his budget out. they said we do not want this style of economic strategy for this nation. and yet he hasn't learned that at all. >> and clearly paul's profile has risen. he ran for vice president. he's now looked upon as a major leader in the house of representatives. i would expect if we're actually going down this path of trying to work with the president, their main goal, the sole goal was to unseat the president. that has failed. maybe now, maybe you should shift but not only your rhetoric but your policy to work with the president, to do things that benefit this country and not simply go back to your talking points about dependency cultures. it's not going to work and the american people don't buy it. >> we've done the politics. very quickly if i can, there's a sense of psychological paranoia

about this man. he talks about the fact that he thinks the president is interested in political conquest. we've had speaker boehner talking about the president wanting to annihilate republicans. can you explain this paranoia? >> in some rmenespects it's pot calling the kettle black. their efforts was to unseat the man, to destroy him politically. i don't believe that's what the president is looking to do right now. i think what the president laid out in his inaugural address was his vision for more a more perfect union. they were attacking it left and right and trying to minutce it out. at the end of the day they have failed the american people and that's why they're struggling, not because of the president. >> congressman joe crowley, thank you, and thank you for standing up for the victims of this storm in the way you have in the house. i'm sure they appreciate it. we'll be right back. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe

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it's time now to "clear the air." and there are two stories we haven't yet mentioned on today's broadcast. the first concerns the news that a monkey, whose very dna is close to the political animals in washington, has been sent into outer space by the iranian government. of course, monkeys are heralded as intelligent and our closest an sesors and while they can often be found in the middle of a traveling circus, their real habitat is actually in the wild. one publication describes a monkey's characteristics in the following way. they are self-centered, mice chiefous, superficial, egoistic, conce conceited, restless, careless, overindulgent, and shallow. the other story we wanted to mention is that john mccain's vice presidential pick of four years ago, sarah palin, has also been sent into the wilderness after fox news failed to reknew her contract. for the sake of clarity, these stories are no